Katten Attorneys Win Dismissal of Avocado Patent Lawsuit

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Jun 12, 2019, 17:17 ET

NEW YORK, June 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP announced today that firm attorneys won a significant litigation involving a plant patent in the field of avocados for its client Avocados Plus Inc., doing business as Fresh Directions International.

Deepro R. Mukerjee, national co-chair of Katten's Patent Litigation practice, and Intellectual Property partner Lance A. Soderstrom

Deepro R. Mukerjee, national co-chair of Katten's Patent Litigation practice, and Lance A. Soderstrom, a partner in that practice, along with associates Joseph M. Janusz and Guylaine Haché successfully represented the companies in the patent lawsuit filed by Agroindustria Ocoena, S.A. (AIOSA) in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida.

Despite a complaint that alleged infringement of a plant patent as well as a demand that AIOSA be awarded its costs and attorney's fees, Katten's client and its attorneys aggressively pursued counterclaims of non-infringement and invalidity.

With fact discovery coming to a close, Katten's attorneys were able to turn the tide, leading to a Stipulation and Order whereby Fresh Directions' rights to the patent were publicly acknowledged and AIOSA dismissed the case with prejudice in the absence of a settlement agreement. But, it did not stop there. Katten and Fresh Directions also obtained a public apology from AIOSA for bringing the lawsuit in the first place.

"This dismissal is a clear victory for Fresh Directions International. Our client can now move forward with its business without any threat from AIOSA. I know how much this meant to our client on a personal level and it brings me great satisfaction to know we were able to achieve this result," Mukerjee said.

Katten is a full-service law firm with nearly 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm's core areas of practice include corporate, financial services, insolvency and restructuring, litigation, real estate, environmental and workplace safety, commercial finance, intellectual property, structured finance and securitization, and trusts and estates. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, including a third of the Fortune 100, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals. For more information, visit www.kattenlaw.com.